Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-04-11
A JULY FROST.
WHICH wTHsRsO ONE OF HORACE
GRsEleY'S FONDEST HOPES.
Failure Of the F"urIerit- C"-opcrstive
Society Forty Wears Ngo-Ihenry.
Practice, and fats-GTeeiey'> III
nanciai Ioss-An Incident.
TIackawa>rn IA cor. New York sun

| 1ackawaN-n Pa cor New York Sun
! On the Faurih OF July. lSI5. a heavy
frost fell ON the hills overlooking the Della
ware valley back of tins place and gave the
death blow 10 one of Horace t;reeley's most
cherished schemes. and let him nearly SI2,
OO1 poorer In lS42 Mahlon & ,dley owned
1909 acres Of land. five miles inland from
the Delaware river, at lackawaxen. OF
this. forty acras were cleared and under
cultivation. The rem nlaini.r WAS woodland
A branch Of the Shohuia creek ran through
the property. GA this creek Godley had a
sav-rnill and a griSt Near tue mills
were frame buu-e and log
house These improvements conipri>ei
the village Cf Gudlavvtlle The stream
WAS alive with tTe finest specimens
OF Il out. The surrounding hills were equally
well provided with the iveliest and largest
of rsttle>nakeS The soil was rough and
rocky, but capable of being made fairly
productive after much hard labor. There
was in thee days no wilder >pot anywhere
IN Pike county
About that O. me cooperation in its varl-
Gus forms was attracting much attention.
and Horace Graeley became one of Its mo
enthusiastic advocates BY lectures and in
his newspaper be urged the common owner
ship Of property aud equal division Of labor.
To give practical Illustration Of their
belief and sincerity in the idea, be.
vita Others, organized the Sylvanlan
society. on the Fourierite theory of
cooperation, and i'll 1872 purchased the
wild and isolated Cooley property in Pike
county, as a fit place t. test the experiment
To JOIN the society or colony it was neCes-
sary L. purchase at least one share of stock,
which cost g. There were many eminent
people ho took stock in the colony, for the
purpose of aiding IN the test of the principle
on which II WAS organized. Edwin Forrest
owned a number of shares, and paid several
visits to the colony to note its workings and
progress. Edward IL Dixon, since famous
the editor Of The Scalpel. was a member.
Mrs George Law was Il subscriber, and took
an active interest in the society. Edward
Courtright of Albany. and the Rev. J. d.
Williamson. both leading men Of that day,
were member. Mr.. Greeley wa, the largest
stockhoider. having $40, 900 invested.
When the society took possession of God
leyville they improved the mills, and erected
an immense frame structure. which con-
tanned the living apartment, of the mem
berS, a common lining hail, a social hall
WI - "detAi shtlis
blacksmith shop, shoe shop, and other
manufacturing establishments were set
gong In 1884 the colony numbered 800,
and seemed TO be progressing finely. No
stated religious instruction was allowed, and
any preacher could he invited 10 preach in
the hall TO all who chose to listen 10 him.
Great attention was paid TO social amuse-
ments, and dances and parties w.re of
weekly occurrence. AMI were largely
attended by outsiders fer mileS around. !
There were weekly lectures on pop
ular subjects, Mr.. Greeley him |
self visiting the colony frequently
and delivering addresses. In social and
intellectual way the singular colony in the |
wilderness progressed smoothly, but the
labor problem disturbed it The colony /
was governed by a bnarl of twelve direct 1
Ors, chosen by the members. The board /
assigned laborers for the different branches |
Of work in what were known aS groups. I
One group was assigned to plugging. an /
other to telling trees, another 10 laying /
wall. and SO on, until all the duties were /
provided for The female members were |!
divided in TIE same way to attend to the |
domestic duties of the society. The priu- !
cipls of equality in labor was followed by /
changing the labor groups from one branch !
of work to another. day by day. The me- |
chanics, and all who were skilled in labor, /
had their especial duties.
One source OF trouble was the fact that a !
number Of rich and prominent families in !
New York took advantage of the colony a. |
a sor. of reformat0ry for their wayward |
sons. They eagerly bought stock in the |
COLONY, and shipped to the care of the So !
ciety material which they could do nothing |
with themselves, merely TO get it off their |
hand. These young men had never done !
any work, and had a natural antipathy to |
it Such an element in q community where |
labor was the highest duty of all could not /,
help but be a disturbing one. Then there |
wa~ trouble with the female members. The |
most OF them we're women who had never |
done manual labor. and when such found |
themselves assigned to days duty at the |
washtuh their complaint, and opposition to !
such a system were loud and emphatic.
The dissatisfaction caused by thee clash |
ing view, of the duty and dignity of labor |
was something that it wss hoped time would |
remove, but when the first seasons crops |
upon which reliance was placed for the sup |
port of the colony, independent of outside |
resources. were grown and housed, and |
found u lie utterly inadequate, the very
foun iation OF the colony was endangered. |
A few withdrew from the society. The pre- !
yalence of rettlesnakes frightened more |
away. One member Of the colony brought |
in seventeen large rattlers in one day. One !
Of these serpents was SO large that John |
Dutton, the foreman Of the colony's shoe !
shops had the skin tanned, and he then
made from II a pair of slippers which he
presented TO Mr.. Greelsv on hi next visit !
After it became Apparent that the till |
able area of the societys land WAS not equal |
TO providing it with necessary supplies, the
members went TO work with will to in
crease it, and the planting for the season Of
lsi5 WAS nearly double what 1t had been
prev iously Good markets had been found
for the shoes and wagons that were made
by the colony, and although individual cap
ital had been sadly drawn upon. the pros
poets that the colony would be se!f-support-
ing during 1915 were so cheering that the
members remaining looked hopefully into
the future The crops never looked better.
In all respects, than they did in the summer
of lsl5; but when the colony awoke on the
morning of the Fourth Of July Of that year
nothing wa> to be sen but a
bIackened waste of field, garden
and orchard. Not living thing
remained on all the tract The
heaviest aud most deadly frost that was
ever known before or since in that region
had destroyed all remaining hope for the
colony's exi tence starvation stared the
colonists IN the face, and in two days Of all
that busy community among the Pike
county hills not single soul remained
Each one bad taken his personal 20 d. and
chatteIs ani gone his way. The Greeley
colony was deserted
The interest which Horace Greeley took